


I'll find my way to you

by Frenchibi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (but don't worry that's not really the focus either), (not the focus of the plot but yah), Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Closeted Character, Fluff, I promise this is soft, M/M, Trans Character, copious amounts of coffee, this is soft but what else is new
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-22 19:30:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21307397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frenchibi/pseuds/Frenchibi
Summary: old zine fic I never posted :'DOikawa has a crush on the cute flower shop owner across the street. Makki is exasperated. Iwaizumi is lactose intolerant, and Yachi is an excellent wingwoman.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 33
Kudos: 241





	I'll find my way to you

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old-ish fic I never posted and I just remembered it existed this morning lmao enjoy??

“...so, listen. Hey- hey, listen to me. What I’m saying is this: if you don’t do something about this situation, like,  _ yesterday, _ I might have to take matters into my own hands. And you don’t want that - neither of us wants that. So you totally, definitely, for  _ sure _ have to do something about this.”

Hanamaki has his hands on his hips, and he actually almost looks agitated, but Oikawa is only hearing half of his words because he’s not-so-subtly trying to look over his friend’s shoulder (why is he standing up so straight? Honestly, who let him be this tall?) and through the window at the store across the street.

“Hey. Oikawa. Focus.”

Oikawa swats away Hanamaki’s hand - and a second later, he ducks to hide behind him. “Shut up, Makki, I heard you! You’re gonna do something about this situation.” He seems to only hear the words once they’re out of his own mouth, and frowns. “Wait- what situation?”

Hanamaki runs his hands over his face before gesturing broadly at Oikawa in general.

“This situation! This, right here! This. You. Pining for the flower boy from across the street.”

Oikawa blushes furiously, even as he snaps: “I have no idea what you’re saying!”

“Look, I get it - he smiled at you one time. And honestly, he’s more of a flower  _ man _ anyway, he’s all tanned and ripped and it’s kind of in-your-face but if you’re into that kind of thing-”

“Makki, ohmygod, he saw me- shut up,  _ shut up, _ shutupshutupshutup he’s coming over here!”

Oikawa hurriedly ushers Hanamaki away from the counter, though it’s not clear what that’s supposed to accomplish, he can’t exactly  _ hide _ anywhere-

The bell above the door jingles as it opens, and Oikawa’s brain disengages, because  _ he’s here. _

He’s wearing green overalls over a white shirt, and they both have the tiny sapling logo of the shop printed on them – something for Oikawa to focus on as he tries hard not to stare at his neighbor’s well-toned arms, or catch his eye for too long.

“Uhm – hi.”

Oikawa blinks, taking entirely too long to realize that this is  _ his _ store that man (Iwaizumi, his name is Iwaizumi, it says so on the tag on his chest) just walked into, and he could only be talking to him. He snaps out of it just in time to catch Hanamaki’s exasperated expression and be mildly irritated, but pushes that down in favor of what he’s hoping is a friendly smile.

“Hi!” he replies, much too brightly.

Iwaizumi smiles back, and seems to stand just a tiny bit taller, resolve renewed. He’s also holding something – a small pot with an even smaller green stem growing out of it.

“Uh, I don’t wanna bother you or anything, but- well, since you just moved in here, I figured I’d give you a little… welcome gift?” He holds up the pot with a small tilt of his head, and Oikawa has to hold his breath to hide the way his heart lurches in his chest at how charming that is.

When he doesn’t immediately react, Iwaizumi does something even more endearing – he kind of just… keeps talking.

“I don’t know if you like plants, but- the other day, you were looking at this one in the window – I mean, not this one in particular, obviously, but this type of flower? So I figured you liked it, and I thought, since we’re gonna be neighbors now, y’know-“

“Thank you so much,” Hanamaki cuts in, pushing himself forward off the counter and taking the pot from Iwaizumi’s hands. It’s a clear intervention and a loss of patience, and Oikawa wants to slap him for it. His look must not go unnoticed, because Hanamaki shoots one right back at him that screams  _ this is exactly what I meant! _

Iwaizumi nods at them both, a little awkward now with his hands free, and starts backing towards the door. Oikawa panics, not wanting him to leave so soon, but his tongue is faster than his brain and all he manages to blurt out is one word.

“Coffee!”

Iwaizumi blinks, and Hanamaki looks like he’s just about ready to combust.

“Uh- I mean- Coffee. You- your shift starts really early, right? I found a good place down the road to get coffee to go, I could- I could bring you one, tomorrow. If- if you drink coffee, I mean.”

(Wow. Great save, Tooru. Fantastic.)

He’s ready to dig a hole and wait for death, but Iwaizumi catches him off guard with another completely unfair smile.

“That sounds great, actually.”

He looks like he’s about to say something else, but his eyes catch movement outside the window and he snaps to attention. “Oh, shit – I gotta get back over there, I think that’s a customer. I’ll see you tomorrow…?”

Oikawa has barely nodded before Iwaizumi is out the door and jogging back across the street, the shop bell jingling in his wake.

In less than half a second, Hanamaki is on the floor laughing.

~~~

The next morning definitely has Oikawa questioning his choices – or, in this case, his fumbling for an excuse to talk to Iwaizumi more. Not because it’s super early (he’d been too jittery to sleep much anyhow, damn  _ nerves, _ it’s not like Iwaizumi is the first guy he’s ever had a crush on…?), but because he’s been replaying yesterday’s conversation in his head for the millionth time and he’s positive that he came across incredibly weird. He has a fair idea of how he must seem to the flower shop owner – a strange tattoo artist who moved in across the road, and who… really likes coffee? That’s objectively not terrible, but not great, either.

So obviously, today’s mission is to rectify that impression, as soon as possible. And to not have to dig an even bigger hole with even more embarrassment. Maybe just… have a normal conversation, for God’s sake.

That’s Oikawa’s mantra, in any case, until he realizes, at the counter of the coffee shop, that he doesn’t even know what kind of coffee Iwaizumi drinks. Life is terrible and he’s going to die alone, so that’s just fantastic.

He ends up ordering four cups instead of two. One regular, one decaf, one with extra milk, and one with two pumps of caramel for himself. He also grabs three packets of sugar on his way out, just to be safe – who knows, maybe his neighbor has a sweet tooth. Or maybe he thinks that coffee tastes gross without being heavily augmented by other tastes, just like Oikawa does.

It does occur to him, as he’s walking down the street towards their shops, that this is a little bit overkill, but he’s determined to get this shit right. Make a good impression. Learn more about Iwaizumi, too, if possible, because he might already be a little bit obsessed.

The light is on inside the flower shop when he approaches, but the front door is locked. Oikawa debates internally for a moment, but before he can decide whether knocking is too insistent, the door opens from the inside.

“Good morning, sir! We’re almost ready to open, if you’d just wait a moment, we’ll be right with you!”

Oikawa blinks, because this is not what he was expecting – he’s face to face with a tiny, tiny young woman, beaming up at him with a bright kind of energy that’s almost blinding. She’s wearing the same uniform as Iwaizumi had on, and has a flower-shaped clip in her short blonde hair. Her name tag reads “Yachi”.

He catches himself, even though the questions are already piling up in his head (who is she to him? Just a co-worker? A friend? A  _ girlfriend? _ ) and manages a confused half-smile.

“Oh- I’m not- uhm. I’m looking for Iwaizumi?”

She stops to take him in properly, and he can actually see the switch from customer-service-smile to the real one underneath.

“Oh! You’re from across the street, right? The new tattoo parlor?”

He manages a sheepish grin. “That’s me.”

She’s already stepping back, holding the door open for him. “Come on inside! Hajime’s upstairs, I’ll go get him!”

Oikawa takes two steps inside and is already distracted by the smell, clearly evident outside but much more prominent here, and the rest of his mind is taken up by  _ “Hajime” _ – first name basis, so she can’t really just be an employee, right? He knows he’s overthinking but his heart is already sinking, and the cups he’s holding already feel stupid and overdone. He’s almost ready to just walk right back out when Yachi emerges from the back again, with Iwaizumi right behind her.

“Good morning! I wasn’t expecting you this early,” he says, but he doesn’t look bothered, so Oikawa takes it as a win.

“I brought coffee,” he says, unnecessarily, and Iwaizumi’s smile widens.

“I can see that.”

“Uh, yeah, I- wasn’t sure how you drink it, so… I got a couple of options.”

It sounds even worse now that he’s saying it out loud – but Iwaizumi just shakes his head incredulously and he’s still smiling, almost  _ fondly, _ and Oikawa doesn’t know what to do with himself.

“Usually just black – I’m lactose intolerant,” Iwaizumi says. “But you like milk in your coffee, right Hitoka?”

Yachi smiles and nods, and Oikawa is suddenly glad he has more than just one cup. He sets them down on the counter and passes them out with a smile that feels a little more like his usual self, even if he’s deflating on the inside. It’s clear Iwaizumi is close with this girl, so maybe he shouldn’t be getting his hopes up too high.

“I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself properly yet,” he says, directed more at Yachi than at Iwaizumi. “I’m Oikawa Tooru – new neighbor, as you know.”

“Yachi Hitoka,” she says, with another bright smile, and a gesture to the shop around them. “Co-owner.”

Iwaizumi nods. “And roommate.”

Oikawa’s confusion must show on his face for a second – not girlfriend or partner,  _ roommate?  _ – because Iwaizumi reacts to it and offers further explanation.

“We had… similar interests and similar issues, so it’s worked out well so far.” He hesitates, clearly aware of how cryptic that sounds, then adds: “…we’re both sort of closeted, and this way people don’t ask questions.”

Oikawa’s eyes widen, and Iwaizumi acknowledges this, too, with a nod towards Oikawa’s shop across the road. “I saw the flag in the window, so I figured… you were safe to tell. Plus, your boyfriend-”

He cuts off, seeing Oikawa’s alarmed expression. “Oh! Makki’s not- uhm, we’re not- we’re not together.”

Something flashes across Iwaizumi’s expression, and Oikawa almost fools himself into believing it’s relief, quickly covered by an apology.

“Sorry, I saw your tattoos and just assumed-”

Oikawa raises his hand to his neck, to the pink carnation blossom identical to the one on Hanamaki’s. The assumption is perfectly logical.

“Makki’s my best friend,” he explains, “and the person who always supported me, and helped me build my business. His tattoo was the first one I did, and he did mine. We’ve been living together since high school. His parents were… not very happy when he came out. Kept telling him it was a phase, forcing him to keep wearing skirts, blamed his identity on me – y’know, the evil gay friend shtick. He couldn’t stay there, so he moved in with my folks, and now we’ve got our own place.”

Yachi’s eyes hold the compassion of someone who’s had a similar experience, and Iwaizumi nods.

“…hurts, that these stories are so common.”

Oikawa gives a half-hearted shrug. “We’re in better places now, and that’s what matters.”

They lapse into silence, and the mood hangs around them kind of heavily – until Yachi puts down her cup and straightens up, dusting off her overalls as if brushing off the weight of the conversation.

“Well,” she says brightly, “I should get the display ready for today! Thank you for the coffee, Oikawa-san!”

Iwaizumi straightens up too, but she shuts him down with a look. “I don’t need help, Hajime. Keep Oikawa-san company – he came to see you, after all!”

And with that she skips off to the back of the store, leaving Iwaizumi to fumble with his cup, and Oikawa to realize with mortifying certainty that he’s blushing.

“Ah- thank you for that, by the way,” Iwaizumi says, after the silence has gone for entirely too long. “…the coffee thing. You didn’t have to do that.”

Oikawa shoves his free hand in his jacket pocket. “I wanted to,” he says, before he can chicken out. “Plus, Makki was so rude to you when you brought that gift yesterday…”

Iwaizumi actually lets out a laugh at this. “I was a little worried, not gonna lie- I thought you were dating and I’d overstepped… I only brought the plant cause- well, you seemed… kind of cool? And I wanted an excuse to talk to you.”

“Uhm- same here,” Oikawa admits, and he immediately feels lighter after saying it. “I didn’t want you to leave so soon, so I just… blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. Makki gave me shit for it for like two hours afterwards.”

“You think I didn’t get a twenty-minute pep talk from Hitoka before I even walked over there?”

Oikawa can feel himself grinning, and he doesn’t fight it. He shouldn’t have worried so much, really – but then again, that’s true for most of his decisions in life. Iwaizumi is so easy, so effortless to talk to, and he’s getting excited just thinking about spending more time with him.

“… hesitation is an inherently queer trait,” he says, “that always gets filtered out by a best friend’s bullshit detector.”

As if on cue, Yachi raises her voice from the back of the shop. “Don’t forget to tell him he looked cute yesterday!”

Iwaizumi blushes instantly and completely, and Oikawa almost drops his cup.

“She’s a demon,” Iwaizumi mutters. “A tiny, ferocious demon.” He’s looks up to catch Oikawa’s gaze even though his embarrassment is obvious, and Oikawa is instantly overcome with affection.

“She’d get along splendidly with Makki, then.”

“Why, ‘cause he embarrasses you in front of cute guys?”

Now  _ that _ Oikawa was definitely not prepared for, and he promptly chokes on his coffee.

Iwaizumi laughs, properly this time, and if Oikawa wasn’t completely smitten before, he definitely is now.

“…clearly I do a good enough job of that myself,” he says, and relishes the pleased smile that flashes across Iwaizumi’s face.

“…well,” Iwaizumi concedes, handing him a tissue from behind the counter. “This guy still might like to… go out with you sometime. Despite the mutual embarrassment.”

Oh, yeah, he’s a goner for sure.

“I’d love that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tunglr dot hell or insta @Frenchibi if you wanna chat (or lurk)


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